The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1887-08-17

II Is ner nrst OQty TO appear rather than to
be. who has been Systematically and per
sistently drilled in pretending TO be what
she knows she is not,-what kind of a life
can she be expected to liver To appear in
society; to have a certain dash of brilliancy,
and certain smattering of knowledge; to
maintain an equipage,and to wear livery
that will dazzle the eye and win the ap-
plause of the world, no matter how hollow
and empty all character and life may be-
this viii be the ambition and this the life
history of one who, properly trained, might
have blessed the world as a genuine, honest,
true-hearted woman.
III. Consider further still, that, as the
soul cannot feed on ashes, the hollowness
at heart to which have alluded, must soon
bring in its train ennui and unrest. Mas
querade before the world can be success
fully kept up only for a brief period.
There will come unguarded moments when
the mask will be unconsciously lifted. and
prying eyes will obtain glimpse of the de-
formities it vainly attempts to conceal. A
base metal may be gilded so as not at first
sight to be distinguished from gold. Nay,
the gliding may sometimes in its glitter
exceed in brightness the finely polished sur
face of the true metal. But it does not
take many hard knocks and rubs in actual
use to wear off the gliding and disclose
the counterfeit beneath. And so contact
with the world, which only Furnishes more
and more the genuine metal of real schol-
arship and noble womanhood, soon reveals
the thinness of the gliding and baseness
of the metal that has come from these fac
tories of cheap education. The victim of
this false training soon discovers that she
is being estimated only for what she is
really worth. Society is soon stated of her
charms. Finding herself prematurely
pussee, and having no resources of her own,
such as thorough education would have
given her, she is forced into matripony as
a retreat at once from society and from
herself. In her haste to accept in mar
riage relief from the unrest of a society
girls life, she often makes ship-wreck at
the very outset of her course. You have
doubtless either read or heard the little
poem entitled ''Genevra, so often recited
by schoolgirls on commencement day.
You remember the sad fate of the young
bride of but an hour, so full of life and
hope and beauty, sportively concealing
herself from her bridegroom and her
guests in the old wooden chest in the gar
ret, when, as the poet so touchingiy says
'Fluttering with Joy, the happiest of them al,
A lock, whose spring in ambush lay,
Fastened her down forever"
/ am comparatively young in years, but
have lived to see this scene many times
re-enacted. have seen the young and beau
tiful girl give her heart and hand to a man
so utterly unworthy of her, SO dissipated,
SO thriftless,or so vicious, that as the min
lister pronounced them one, the lock with
secret spring had fastened her down for
ever" Let me implore my young friends
to step cautiously in this matter which in
wolves so completely the happiness and
usefulness of lifetime. If one who is
your ideal of true manhood offers himself,
marry him and make him happy, but do
not conclude that the chief end of woman
is to get married.
Remember, too, that even if you are we'll
mated and happily mated, you will need to
rr~a resources within yourself that nothing
but th-ough education will afford. You
will find THAI even if your husband is the
''best man in the worns married life is
not all moonlight, loveligneyrpusic and
flowers" l saw not a great while ag~two
little cartoons, companion pieces, that
we're very suggestive. They were entitled
Before and After The first represent
ed a young gentleman and young lady
crossing stile. He was holding in one
hand her parasol, her bouquet and her fan,
whilst with the other he gently supported
her, saying, as he handed her down, " Be
careful, darling" That was "Before." The
other cartoon showed the same parties al
the stile year or two later. The gentle
man has crossed and is few steps in ad
vance. The lady is in the act of crossing
with the parasol and fan in one hand, and
little child folded to her breast with the
other, whilst his Lordship looks back over
his shoulder, saying, Hurry up, Maria,
what makes you SO slow?" That was
"After."
Now let our girls be thoroughly educat-
ed, and, through education, let them be
brought into intelligent acquaintance
with nature and loving companionshir
with books. Let them know botany enough
to make associates of flowers, and astron-
omy enough to make playmates of the
stars. Let them be able to trace to its
genus every butterfly that crosses their
path, and to enter into the subtle alchemy
of every leaf that hutters in the wind
With such soul treasures within them anC
about them, they will not be dependent on
the caprices and tyrannies of fashionable
society they will not be compelled to look
upon marriage as woman's chief end
they will find open to them, even amidst the
drudgeries and monotonies of the most
| commonplace life, sources of purest and
most ennobling enjoyment.
~. The arguments which ! have thus
far adduced for the thorough education OF
woman are applicable everywhere and un-
der all conditions but as l have already
said, there are special reasons which, in the
present condition of things at the South
seem to render this duty more than ordina
| rily imperative. The first of these has re-
| spect to the new and charming fields oil
| literary adventure that are just being open
ed at the South. We hear every day with
astonishment and admiration of the dis
covery of fields of inestimable mineral
wealth, in places where, as at Duck Hill
and other points in your State, the farmer
has been plowing for generations, not sus
pecting in the rough stones that he turned
with his ploHghshare, the presence of me
talic ores more valuable than the haryests
| which he sought with arduous toll. And sc
1 have to tell you of literary mines,-
of intellectual treasure at the South, whose
discovery is equally recent and surprising
1t is only few years ago that in Middle
| Georgia group of lawyers, gathering or
successive court days at the different county
| seats, were accustomed in the intervals be
tween the sessions of the court to sit by tht
| tavern freside and entertain one another
with stories illustrative of the quaint man
| ners, queer provincialisms, and peculiar
social characteristics of the honest country
people with whom their professional duties
| brought them in contact. To most of tht
anecdotists this was mere pastime hn
one of them-Richard MaIcoImb Johnston
under the light of true genius, saw in th'
quaint humors and marked idiosyncraciei
of the honest, simpie-hearted people ;
study of social life under new conditions
and therefore of fresh and original type
A mine of literary treasure at once opene6
to him. He began to work it with the yea
of discoverer and the assiduity of 9
scholar, and the Dukesboro1gh Tales
soon placed him in the front rank as one O
the original character -sketchers of tn,
age.
| The childhood of every Southern boy i
full of memories of hours spent in tn
plantation cabin, where the old shoemake
piled the awl, or out under the open cotton
| shed, where through the summer days the oil,
basket maker wove the white-oak splits sit
| all the deftness of sn Indian into til
shampeEsn ana big john" ie..o which th
whitening cnt..oon was soon to be pressed
1'e hold in dim but charming recollection
those o-be-forgotten stories of Bre
Rabbit and Beer Fox; but ii was left 70
Joel Chandler Harris to perceive in thes
quaint stories that delighted our childhood
another rich mine of wealth. And now hi
sUncle Remus" is being translated into a
the languages of Europe. He has immol
talized himself and added a new depassmsn
J to the folklore of the world.
And SO Geo. ". Cable, beginning life q
an errand-b boy IN one of the mercantil
! establishments of New Orleans, findin
himself intensely interested in the varicu
phases of Creole life around him, discover
J in novelties of scene and character, of dis
} lect and temperament, the material fror
which to construct a series of literar
works that are as entertaining in the
] charming views of Southern landscape an